Category Archives: US gun control

More than 3,000 walkouts – which saw students leave class at 10am local time for 17 minutes, one minute for each student killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Florida – were planned across the country

Plan to ‘harden’ schools against mass shooting attacks backtracks on pledge to raise the age limit for buying certain guns

The Trump administration will use existing justice department funding to help train teachers and other school personnel to use firearms in an attempt to “harden” schools against mass shooting attacks, the White House announced on Sunday.

Homeland security officials will also work with states to develop a public awareness campaign to prevent school shootings based on the “See something, say something” campaign launched after 9/11, which encourages members of the public to stay vigilant and report potential signs of terrorism.

“Looking for it,” answered Maryann Sobel, shouldering her rifle. She steadied herself into firing position – body perpendicular to the target, legs locked into a triangle shape, breath steady and calm – and aimed at the bullseye 10 meters away, a minuscule dot half a millimeter in diameter. For a perfect shot, the high-school freshman needed to not just find the needle in the haystack; she needed to shoot through the needle’s eye.

Meeting will include campaigners seeking to tie mass shootings to violence in games and movies – despite research failing to show a link

As Donald Trump convenes a meeting on Thursday to address violence in video games, in the wake of last month’s Florida school shooting, those in attendance will include a group that argues the Muppets drink too much, and another committed to exposing strident liberal bias on television.

The president’s round table at the White House will be the latest in a series of discussions on school safety after a gunman left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman high school in Parkland on 14 February.

Debate over connection between games and crime dates back to Columbine – but despite moral panic evidence doesn’t stack up

Donald Trump will host executives from the video game industry at the White House on Thursday, resurrecting a debate over the link between violent video games and gun-related deaths in the aftermath of the Parkland high school shooting.

The meeting comes as the president and lawmakers in Washington face continued pressure to act in the wake of the 14 February massacre at Marjory Stoneman High School, which left 17 people dead.

A 2005 law protects the companies from lawsuits over gun crime – but if the case against them is as weak as they claim, why do they need such coddling?

In the wake of the mass killing at a school in Parkland, Florida, Americans are again embroiled in a debate about guns, and the consensus (at least outside of Congress) seems to be that it’s beyond time for sensible and effective gun laws.

Less clear is what those laws might be. Which ones would be the most effective in preventing the kind of killing sprees to which Americans have grown far too accustomed? And which ones would prevent the thousands of deaths that don’t grab headlines, but still make the United States’ gun-slaughtered body count an outlier among peacetime nations?

In 30 states, it’s legal for a child to possess a rifle or shotgun, which advocates say teaches them to use guns responsibly – but critics see it laying a path for danger

In early 2017, a video went viral of a 10-year-old girl named Presley receiving a gift. In the back seat of a car, Presley’s parents hand her a box at least half her size; it might be some kind of musical instrument. Presley, though, overcome with emotion, seems to clock what’s inside instantly: her very first gun.

Law enforcement experts say the FBI, local officials and the White House need a new approach to spotting and stopping would-be attackers – and information-sharing is key

While almost all the public passion in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has centered on guns and the proliferation of military-style assault weapons, experts and policy analysts in law enforcement have been haunted by a different but equally troubling question: why do we keep making the same mistakes?

The missed warnings were particularly egregious in the case of Nikolas Cruz, the disaffected former student who returned to Parkland’s Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school on Valentine’s Day and gunned down 17 students and teachers. The local sheriff’s office was first warned two years ago that Cruz was thinking of shooting up the school, and the FBI twice received specific warnings that it failed to follow up or pass on.